Liberty award for Tony Bunyan and Statewatch

28 November 2011

Tony Bunyan and Statewatch were presented with the 'Long Walk' award in Liberty's Human Rights Awards 2011 on 22 November. Tony Bunyan, the Director of Statewatch, is a Visiting Research Fellow at the Centre for the Study of Poverty and Social Justice in the School for Policy Studies. Statewatch monitors the state and civil liberties in the European Union.

Other academics involved are Ann Singleton, Co-Chair of the Trustees for Statewatch and the Head of Centre for the Study of Poverty and Social Justice in the School for Policy Studies and Paddy Hillyard, a Trustee of Statewatch and Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Social Sciences and Law.

Statewatch was particularly praised by Liberty for its: '...dedication to openness, democracy and informed debate about European institutions, keeping us reliably informed and suitably engaged for the last 20 years. Their network of independent volunteers has become one of the most respected and reliable sources of investigative journalism and critical research in the fields of the state, justice, home affairs and civil liberties in the European Union.'

Shami Chakrabarti, Director of Liberty, said: "We are full of admiration and appreciation for the dedication and commitment to the protection of rights and freedoms shown by all our winners and nominees.

"It's been an interesting year for human rights and the fight to defend the Human Rights Act, which has never been more vital, is far from over.

"But we're acutely aware that we're far from alone in that promotion of human dignity, equal treatment and fairness and Liberty is immensely proud to honour our candidates' achievements."

The Liberty Human Rights Awards aim to honour those individuals and organisations dedicated to protecting and promoting the rights of others by giving proper recognition to the people who provide essential support, information or inspiration on human rights issues. A full list of the winners is available on Liberty's website.

Further information

Liberty is also known as the National Council for Civil Liberties. Founded in 1934, they are a cross party, non-party membership organisation at the heart of the movement for fundamental rights and freedoms in the UK. Liberty promote the values of individual human dignity, equal treatment and fairness as the foundations of a democratic society.